The Egyptian Antiquities Organization (EAO) and the Getty
Conservation Institute (GCI) will collaborate on a research project
to determine what factors are contributing to the deterioration of
the Great Sphinx of Giza. The announcement was made by Dr. Sayed
Tawfik, Chairman of the EAO, and Dr. Frank Preusser, Acting
Co-Director of the GCI. The results of this scientific investigation
will enable the EAO to develop a conservation plan designed to
preserve the 4,600 year-old monument for future generations.

The project was launched with the installation of a solar-powered
meteorological station on the Sphinx. The 90-kilo, 2-meter tall
instrument, developed by the GCI, will monitor environmental data
from the site and the surrounding area during the project's first
phase over the next 12-24 months. A joint EAO-GCI team will collect
and analyze information on wind speed and direction, solar
radiation, ambient and surface temperature, relative humidity, and
rainfall, to determine their effect on the deterioration of the
Sphinx. Petrological and chemical analyses as well as geophysical
and structural studies will also be undertaken, and microseismic
activity will be monitored to determine the effects of traffic
vibration on the monument.

The urgency of the situation is demonstrated by the fact that the
Sphinx has deteriorated more in the last 50 years than in all the
previous centuries of its existence combined," observed Dr. Tawfik.
"We expect that this research will also be applicable to the
conservation of other monuments and archaeological sites in Egypt."
Evidence of historical erosion, as well as slow crumbling and
flaking of the stone, is apparent particularly along the sides of
the Sphinx where sloughing off of the surface is a common
phenomenon.

While the Sphinx is perhaps the most famed, and by far the most
thoroughly documented and scrutinized monument of the ancient
world, there has never been a coordinated effort to methodically
quantify and examine the variety of factors that affect it,"
noted Dr. Preusser. "While we cannot completely stop the natural
processes that contribute to its deterioration, we can slow them
down considerably. The greatest challenge facing the team is to
identify protective measures that are sensitive to the aesthetic
and historic integrity of the Sphinx.

Literature searches, a digitized computer model of the monument,
and historic photodocumentation will be studied in conjunction
with the results of the monitoring operation over the next two
years. Following this research period, a final diagnosis will be
made and a conservation plan developed in the project's second
phase.